Becoming Blair
by Wearethedreamersofdreams
Summary: Serena had been right, it was good to see a familiar face, even if it was Cabbage Patch. Blair/Dan
1. Expectations

**Chapter 1**

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To say she had been surprised by her first semester at NYU would have been an understatement. Despite her schizophrenia suffering room-mate from hell, who frequently gave out tips on how Blair could save her soul before then going off to sniff copious amounts of coke, she had fallen into a comfortable routine she thought she'd never find at any other school besides Yale. She was beginning to see how first appearances and past expectations had been so wrong, take the guys in her life for example.

Nate had been her scripted prince since the age of 4, her knight in shining armour, till he fell off his horse when he fell onto Serena. She had been naïve and in hindsight knew this, there had never been any passion in their relationship and with this lacking she had tried to make up for it by pushing it to resemble something from a fairytale. Looking back the love that was there had only ever been pure, she smirked thinking of that clichéd show Serena had made her watch when she was younger. Nate was her Dawson. Her first love. But ultimately not the one she ends up with.

Then came Chuck, her anti-Nate, the passion that had been lacking in her first relationship, Chuck made up for it ten fold. Their first couple of months together she had been so consumed with lust and what she thought was love that she hadn't seen the signs, they simply couldn't communicate. Most days were spent in bed, or on the floor. If a conversation wasn't going the way one of them wanted, one of them would simply break the other off in a kiss and all was forgotten in a sea of tangled limbs.

It wasn't till summer had past and reality had kicked in, in the forms of work and school, that both realised that they were gonna have to try bloody hard to make it work and try they did, Blair smiled at the memories of Chuck's late night rendezvous, showing up with flowers and champagne at the dorm in the hope Georgina had somewhere better to be (She hadn't). But ultimately there was always an assignment to finish or a meeting to attend and both should have been able to see where it was headed. They had been together only one month into school when she caught him with his secretary, his pants round his ankles, she merely closed the door and walked away, expecting him to run after her, thankful he didn't. It wasn't the painful or harsh breakup she had envisioned, both admitted beyond the sex and without the games they were wrong for each other, in a way maybe too similar. She said she probably never really trusted him and so wasn't surprised nor angry, he said he had never given her a reason too. They had parted amicably and more importantly Blair thought, as friends.

The most surprising thing of all was the relief she felt, after all the trouble, Nate-Chuck-Marcus-Nate-Chuck, for the first time she was free from drama. But as enjoyable as the single life seemed Blair still hoped that one day she'd find her Soul mate, her Pacey.

NYU therefore was her fresh start, she could become who she wanted to be, someone who occasionally wore jeans, who drank cheap coffee off a vendor and someone who had rode the subway (Only once so far, but baby steps she thought). NYU was Blair's chance to reinvent herself and become someone who was less time consuming to upkeep, her chance to finally find herself.

After the initial shock of meeting her room-mate, Blair had realised Georgina wasn't all bad. It had taken her little over a month and a half to get herself kicked out (Coke habits didn't bode well with the dean) thus leaving Blair with a dorm room to herself, a dorm that was close as she could get to resemble her room at home. She had thought about hiring an interior decorator to try and rescue the room but knew the stares and mummers that her neighbours would give. She was aware half of the students thought of her as that spoilt rich girl Gossip Girl had an obsession with and that was only because the other half had never even heard of Gossip Girl, to them she was just rich and spoilt.

Serena had visited once, spending the whole weekend excitingly babbling about Brown, about how sorry she was to hear about Chuck, "Although I have to say B, post break up seems to suit you, you look great" and also mentioning she had to check in with Dan at some point, asking if he and Blair had kept in touch. She said they hadn't, in fact she hadn't given much thought to him being on the same campus.

"Well maybe you two should catch up, you have things in common now, same school and all." Serena had said without any hint of sarcasm.

Blair knew Serena was worried but trying to create a play date with herself and her Ex was pushing it, she simply smirked and replied "We had you in common before and I didn't like communicating with him then."

"Yeah but your this whole new nicer package now Blair don't forget, I seem to remember a certain text about you spending a whole 23 minutes on the subway, not to mention you being able to share a bathroom, maybe expanding your friends will be part of the growing process too." Serena said with a raised eyebrow and pursed smile. Blair simply rolled her eyes adding, "There's being nicer and there's pigs flying S."

She saw him in her English Lit class not long after her discussion with Serena and wondered how it had taken this long. He'd been away over summer, Serena had mentioned something about him visiting his mum before joining Vanessa and Nate in Europe, but he would have been at NYU, in this specific class for five weeks, how had neither not noticed one another before. He was in a Navy plaid Shirt, a light tan on his skin, evidence from his summer Blair thought and his hair was slightly longer letting the natural curls grow out. From her side view she could see he was tapping his pencil onto the open textbook in front of him, staring at nothing in a spaced out kind of way, simply daydreaming. She smiled at the image, Serena had been right, it was good to see a familiar face, even if it was Cabbage Patch.

Blair had packed up and left the lecture hall first and on a spare of the moment decision she decided to wait outside for Dan. As she waited she began to take in her surroundings; the hustle of classmates leaving, talking about the recent assignment or their plans for that night. Her first month at university she had been busy with Chuck so she hadn't really embraced what it was like to be a fresher, to throw caution to the wind and act a little reckless, she made a mental note to try and start now. He was talking to some Bimbo as he walked out the door she noticed, holding it open for the nameless blond. Upon noticing Blair he raised his eyebrow as a look of surprise flashed his face, Blair simply smirked before saying, "Glad to see things haven't changed, still pushing above your weight Humphrey." Dan simply rolled his eyes before gesturing to the blonde and saying "Olivia this is Blair, Blair Olivia." The girl waved and said a nervous but polite hello before saying she had to get to her next class, she made plans with Dan about some study group before walking off.

She was pretty Blair noted, not Audrey Hepburn beautiful but pretty in a cute, girl next door kind of way, almost Serena like, if only she had better taste in clothes, she looked like a walking Gap commercial.

Dan started to adjust his satchel strap and shuffle his shoes as they were left alone, if Blair didn't know better she would have thought he was nervous, "She's errr just a friend, she rooms with Vanessa so we hang out sometimes, mostly in class...." Blair put up her hand as if to stop his rambling, "I don't care Cabbage Patch, I just wanted to know what you thought about the assignment, I figured an analysis on Wuthering Heights would be your thing, with your penchant for chick lit." Dan shook his head with a light laugh, "Afraid I'm the worst person to ask, I never really liked the book, always thought if Cathy had just been honest about her love for Heathcliff things would have worked out, saved themselves and others all that heartache."

"Yeah but then that would have made a boring book, everyone knows the best love stories are complicated." Blair stated wistfully, looking at the ground. Dan must have noticed Blair's face drop because he took a step closer, put his hand on her shoulder and asked if she was ok, Blair straightened immediately and started to walk, she knew he must have heard about her and Chuck but she really didn't want that conversation, especially not with Dan. As he fell in step beside her Blair ignored his question and asked, "You want to dissect over a coffee? It will be good to get a different view on the novel I guess, even if it is from an optimistic romantic." She turned noticing Dan had stopped walking, he yet again had that surprised look on his face and the raised eyebrow, it was quickly replaced by a small smile and a nod of his curls before he resumed walking, "Er yeah sure, although I'm pretty sure someone who can recite every line from Breakfast at Tiffany's isn't exactly a pessimist, if that's not a hopeless romantic I don't know what is."

Blair turned to face him, looking directly into his eyes before saying "Yeah well, things change."

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**So this is my first attempt at writing, i love the thought of Dair so much it inspired me. This hasn't had a Beta read through so is probably littered with mistakes, especially when it comes to paragraphing and writing speech. Any pointers would be apprecitated. :)**


	2. Suprises

**Chapter 2**

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Dan was surprised by Blair.

At the start of the semester he noticed her a few of times in his class, normally always one of the first in, sat at the front and hand raised, but he never approached her. He simply kept himself out of her way as he thought this was probably what she wanted. After he heard from Nate about her and Chucks recent split he tried even harder to keep off her radar, he was the perfect person for her to take it out on, lowly Cabbage Patch. He was sure she could probably even find a way to blame it on him. One day when leaving his Dorm early he noticed her in front leaving the building, surely they didn't share this dorm too. After talking to Vanessa he found out that yes they apparently did, he was surprised, she never went to any of the dorm mixers or roof top parties, on second thought maybe he wasn't surprised at all.

It was when she came into the lecture hall later than him for once that he properly took notice of her, she was wearing jeans and she was late. She was late and she was wearing jeans, sure they probably cost more than his whole wardrobe combined but he was sure hell had just frozen over. Their next class he noticed she was wearing a loose ponytail, no headband, just a plain hair tie with a ponytail and yet again there were those jeans. He couldn't help smiling to himself, he always knew she was beautiful in an almost old fashioned kind of way, real natural no make up needed beautiful, but normally her clothes and those headbands gave off an uptight vibe that looked to be her mask, a mask that seemed to be slipping, because right here sat nearly in the middle of the auditorium, he thought she had never looked more beautiful. Olivia caught him staring and nudge his shoulder with her own, "Who's the brunette who's captured your attention?" He blushed slightly before slouching down in his seat. "Ah just a friend of a friend." Olivia raised her eyebrows and gave a smirk but didn't push him further. He wasn't sure how he would explain Blair anyway, my ex/stepsister's best friend, the girl who made my life hell, the girl who helped me plot against the she devil? He was glad friend of a friend brought no more questions.

A week later; a week of more changes including blond highlights, a cheap cup of coffee on her desk, her not raising her hand once and he found her waiting for him, she looked lost in thought as he left the auditorium before she noticed him and her trademark smirk took it's place on her lips. She actually asked what he thought about Wuthering Heights and then asked him if he wanted a coffee. First jeans, a loose ponytail and now talking to him, if she didn't still speak to him in that sarcastic, patronising tone he would have thought he was in some sort of alternate universe.

They spoke about the novel for a while before more interesting topics came up. Dan gave the low-down on Nate and Vanessa's will they won't they routine before telling her about his trip, he was sure he must have been boring her with his tales of sunsets in Greece, Ruins in Italy and his favourite, a football match in London, but when he looked up she seemed almost captivated. When he mentioned Paris he noticed her eyes light up and she joined in comparing her experiences to his, of course she had stayed in 5 star hotels while he slept in hostels riddled with bugs but things like the Eiffel tower and the Louvre were the same experiences when seen through eyes that truly appreciated such things. He told her how Nate looked at the Eiffel tower an announced "Is that it? The street sellers here are more interesting, it's just a metal mess." She laughed, a proper laugh which he didn't think he had heard before and said "That's Nate all over, he insisted on playing his PSP the one and only time I managed to drag him round the Met."

She told him about her classes and Georgina, someone he was glad not to have run into. They spoke about Serena and how happy she had seemed when they both saw her last, how he felt like he was in an episode of the Brady Bunch everytime he went home and how for the first time since she could remember, she was actually happy with her home life, even if Cyrus was too short and too loud. The only topic that seemed out of bounds was Chuck, although he'd heard from Nate that their split had been pretty straightforward, he sensed Blair wasn't as over it as everyone thought.

It was two hours later before she said she had to go, to get dinner and get started on the assignment. He said he had to get going too and as they walked off in the same direction he laughed quietly to himself, letting her probably think he was stalker. After a few minutes she turned to him, cocked an eyebrow and said "Don't tell me your in Hayden Hall?" He chuckled, rubbing his neck before replying "Afraid so Waldorf." The sarcastic response he thought she'd fire back never came and he even thought he might have seen a hint of a smile grace her lips. He walked her to her floor, 5th, telling her he'd see her in class before carrying on up the stairs to the 8th floor. Later that night as tried to make headway on the main themes throughout Bronte's classic he couldn't help thinking about her, her laugh, the way she sighed when he described his travels, even the way she played with the rim of her coffee cup had got his attention, he'd been wrong about her and was beginning to see why she was Serena's best friend. He closed the word document he was working on before opening a new page which he kept named as untitled and begun writing.

He didn't know what was happening, only that she had surprised him and gave him inspiration to write again, Blair Waldorf his muse, who'd have thought.

The next day he noticed she was waiting outside the dorm as he opened the door and walked outside, surely she wasn't waiting for him again was she? Twice in two days. She had her back to him so he cautiously approached her and gave a light tug on her ponytail. She twirled round looking like she was about to shout at the unwelcome intruder but he saw her eyes soften as she noticed it was him, she pursed her lips and started to walk off, when he didn't follow she turned raising her eyebrows as if to say I haven't got all day. He picked up pace till he was walking alongside her and nudged her with his shoulder to show he was just playing, she turned her head towards him stating "You know a simple hello would have sufficed cabbage patch, I'm not sure what the protocol is in Brooklyn but girls here don't tend to like the old caveman way of communication." He laughed and raised his eyebrow at her hair, she unconsciously raked her hand through her ponytail before saying, "Keeps it out of my eyes." He nodded before adding "I like it, your less intimidating this way." He noticed again the small smile play on her lips and they walked in comfortable silence to their class.

The next few weeks he noticed they had fallen into a routine. She would save him a seat on a Tuesday when it was their last class of the day and he'd bring her a coffee, always placing it down on the edge of her desk and making sure he had put a sleeve round it so she wouldn't burn her fingers, they would then go grab another coffee whilst making notes and sometimes even have dinner, although he noticed she barely ate half what she ordered. She would wait for him outside their dorm on a Wednesday morning, when it was their first class of the day. He'd purposely pull on her hair waiting for her death glare of a reply to which he responded by beating his chest in some sort of cave man gesture, she'd roll her eyes and they'd walk together to the lecture hall, sometimes talking about how they were getting on with their assignments, other times in silence. On a Friday, English Lit was their middle class, it was an unspoken rule that whoever got there first saved the seats, Dan always brought the Coffee, probably why she was normally first. She had also started calling him Dan, something that still surprised him everytime she said it.

It was on a particular Friday, whilst waiting for Mr. Austin, their eccentric old lecturer who had a love for life, literature and apparently younger girls, to show up did he think to bring up the subject of the Halloween party being held on the roof of their dorm that night. He asked her if she was going and was pleasantly surprised when she replied she was, apparently she had been spending more time in the common area of her floor and she had made a few friends, all of them in need of a personal shopper but all in all friendly enough she had said. He bit back a smile before putting his hand on his heart in mock horror saying, "Don't tell me, you, miss Blair Waldorf are fraternizing with mere commoners." She turned her head, looking at him before poking his cheek with her pencil and said "Well I've been spending time with you haven't I." He smiled, picked up his coffee, tapped it to hers and said "Touché Waldorf, Touché." It was then that Mr. Austin decided to enter the class rambling on about how his car had broken down and class began.

Afterwards they both had other classes to get to so both packed up and hurried out the auditorium, he said goodbye once they were outside and made to walk away, quickly remembering the party he turned so he was walking backwards and shouted that he'd see her tonight, she raised her eyebrow in question and he replied "The Party." She simply smiled, nodded and turned to walk to her next class.

He shook his head lightly to himself, if you'd have said last year he'd be meeting Blair at a party, that he was excited to go just to see her there, he'd have said you were high. Stranger things have happened he thought.

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**Yet again this hasn't had a Beta read through so has probably got alot wrong with it, my bad :(**


	3. Progress

**Chapter 3**

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Blair was amazed by how easy it was to open up to Dan over coffee. She was actually jealous of him when he described his travelling, although she'd seen most of the world it was always through first class and town cars, he'd properly experienced it, had proper stories to tell. He listened to her moan about classes, Georgina and her last visit to the ballet, in which Cyrus had clapped along so loud to the music she had wanted the chair to swallow her up. He seemed to have lost that judgemental streak that normally made them clash or maybe she had become more understanding of why he judged her, he never mentioned Chucks name and when they went to leave, he paid leaving a tip and went to open the door for her.

She had to bite back a smile when he admitted they were in the same dorm and she let that smile light up her face when she got back to her room. She almost felt guilty for the way she had treated him at school, almost. She had found someone she could talk to, who knew her past and still wanted to speak to her. Blair was glad, she just wasn't sure if it was despite that that person was Humphrey or because it was him, either way she wanted to keep him around. The fact that she had noticed he was pretty popular would help too, she had wasted too much of her time already being an outcast and wanted to try and fit in as quick as possible. With this in mind she put down her books, grabbed her purse and went to get dinner in the dorm cafeteria instead of calling Dorota for her usual take out. This was progress she thought.

The next day she decided to wait for him, she thought she'd get his usual questioning expression but instead he had pulled her hair, it was a tradition that he kept over the next few weeks, whether she had her back to him or her hair down was irrelevant, he'd just grab a few strands and give them a tug. She would never admit it but she liked it, it reminded her of when Nate was younger and he'd pull her hair in the playground, back when he'd still thought of her as touchable. One day after she'd given him her look to kill, he had picked a few loose strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and tucked them behind her ear. Her breath had caught in her throat and she felt like she could have thrown up, he however seemed oblivious, like he didn't even notice he had done it and had started walking and talking about that bitch of an assignment Mr. Austin had set, "Doesn't he realise we have work to do from other classes as well?"

She noticed over the weeks that the sick feeling became a regular occurrence; when he brought her a coffee and had remembered how she took it, when he began putting a sleeve round the cup after she had burned her finger. When he squeezed her knee to get her attention in class, so he could roll his eyes at something old Lecherer Austin had said and more alarmingly when he had waved at Olivia from across the room. She had told herself it must have been a regular dodgy stomach after constantly eating all that cafeteria food, yeah that's all it was.

Blair however couldn't help taking an instant dislike to Olivia, why did he always pay attention to blondes. One day as they were walking back to the dorm she asked him about her, he had said there wasn't much to tell, that she was Vanessa's room-mate and that they were just friends. She gave him her yeah right face and he waved his hands in the air in protest before saying, "I promise, in fact Vanessa was telling me last night how she caught Olivia and the captain of the debate team in the shower last week, apparently she didn't know the sock system extended to bathroom doors and didn't realise the lock was broke after someone kicked the door down during a pledge." Blair felt relieved, if she was sleeping with the Captain of the dork brigade she wasn't sleeping with Dan, come to think of it, upon realising that, she now just felt sick again. Why did she care who Dan was sleeping with?

Some girls from her floor had mentioned a party for Halloween, apparently it would be the biggest one on campus so she should come. She was thinking about heading home that weekend and seeing what else was going on around the city, but when Dan had asked her if she was going she had said yes on impulse and had nodded when he said he'd see her there. As she got ready that night Blair couldn't deny what was happening, they had become almost friends and now he was giving her butterflies. She hadn't even seen his dorm room yet, hadn't spent any time away from the campus with him and yet he was giving her friggin butterflies. She was just going to have to kill them with alcohol and a stereotypical Football Captain named Chad she thought.

She didn't bother with fancy dress and was glad when she went to the roof that there were others who hadn't either. She went and found some familiar faces and accepted the cup one of the girls, Katie, gave her. "It's Vodka and lime, I figured like me you probably hated beer." Blair wanted to retort what would give her that impression but the fact of the matter was she did hate beer, so she simply said thank you and started talking about some of the embarrassing costumes on display, one of which was a girl thinking it was ok to wear just a bikini and some cat ears in New York at the end of October. Blair wished a cold upon the slutty girl, that'll teach her to act tacky she thought.

She saw him a couple of hours and a few too many Vodka's later, he wasn't dressed up either and he appeared to be holding up some guy, some guy who ironically looked like a Chad. She approached to say hello but noticed he turned with "Chad" and took him downstairs, curiosity getting the better of her she followed him down to the 8th floor, where he took out a key, struggling to keep the dead weight up and opened the door. She stood in the doorway as she watched him manoeuvre the now obvious drunk to lay on one of the rooms beds.

As he turned he jumped slightly after seeing her in the doorway, "Err, hey there, you trying to give me a heart attack Waldorf?" he said jokingly, she could sense he'd been drinking too. He approached her before she could respond and after noticing his proximity she couldn't remember what in hell she was just about to say. He shook her shoulders lightly, then swayed her side to side, raised his eyebrow and said "Are you drunk?" She pushed his hands off her shoulders before saying, "No, yes, maybe a little. I'm really just wondering if you were trying to take advantage of this poor guy here, does he realise he's just taken a hairy and very male companion home?" Dan gave her a look of mock disgust before he pulled the top few buttons of his shirt open and said "Hey, I'm not hairy, see." She started to think he was flirting with her before he gestured to the guy and added "This is Matt, my room-mate, he did like 20 Jagerbombs and decided to pass out on my shoulder."

Ah so this was his room, she walked over to the now snoring lightweight and kicked him in his side with her heel, "I hope he appreciates his white knight taking him home." she said, Oh my god, was she flirting with him back. "Room-mate protocol I think." he replied.

She told him she wouldn't know as she was now room-mate less. "Ah yes, funny how that worked out, I would have put up with Georgina in return for a room of my own. Don't get me wrong, he's nice and all but adhering to the sock system is hard when he's at it every night. Sleeping on the common room sofa is getting kinda old." he said tilting his head to the side and kicking a pair of lacy panties from the floor at her. She dodged them, shouting "Ewww, gross. Are you trying to give me a disease!" before running at him and pushing him onto the other bed, he laughed and simply stayed laying there. She saw this as an opportunity to look round his room, it was typical of him she thought, books were all over his desk, he had a bulletin board littered with photos of his family and friends, a ticket stub to a Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge, class notes and timetables. His side appeared to be tidy while wasted guys was a mess. His bedsheets were boring blue and looked clean she noted. Her best find came sat at the end of his bed, sat next to where he was laying with his feet off the side onto the floor, in the form of Cedric, he had brought Cedric to uni.

She picked him up and sat down in the space left next to Dan, he swung his legs over so they sat at the top of his bed on the pillows and his head was now next to her leg, she ignored the feeling his head resting against her leg brought and said "I can't believe you brought Cedric with you. I thought you'd be scared of ridicule." He glanced up at her, having to move his head against her leg so he could see her properly, before saying "Jenny brought him on one of her visits, she said he was all alone at the loft now no-one hardly goes there, Matt was scamming on Jenny so gave her a load of bull about how he has one too and will bring it back after Thanksgiving." She laughed before bringing the doll to her face and smelling it, it smelt like him; like books, coffee, cologne and his own smell, like perfection. She noticed he had seen her do this, so to lighten the mood she brought Cedric's face down to his and with her own sound effects she pretended it was placing kisses all over his face. He stared laughing, before rolling over and getting up onto his knees. He grabbed Cedric from her grasp and pulled her legs so she laid flat on his bed positioning himself so his legs were on either side of hers. He then proceeded to rub Cedric in her face, before putting him down and grabbing her hands that she was using half heartedly to fight him off with and placing them above her head, "I'm gonna have to film this and put it on Youtube, think of the title, Queen of the upper east side making out with lowly Cabbage patch doll Cedric." She couldn't help laughing, a laugh that was personified by the alcohol, however after she stopped trying to free her hands and looked up at his face she could see his expression had become serious. She thought he was going to kiss her but he just stared at her for what seemed like forever with that goofy yet adorable smile of his before saying, "You should laugh more, it really brings out those dimples."

Those dam butterflies were back and mixed with the Vodka she really did think she was going to throw up, so she did the only thing she thought would make them go away, she pushed her head off the bed and she kissed him full on the mouth.

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**R&R, it makes me write faster :)**


	4. I like You

**Chapter 4**

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He was kissing her. He Dan Humphrey was kissing Blair Waldorf. Not only that but she was the one who had started it.

The past few weeks he had started to see Blair in a whole new light and hell he had wanted to kiss her for a while now, he had dreamed about kissing her, it had even spilled over into his writing but he valued his life too much to even think about doing it. They were friends now which was surprising enough, he knew she would never think of him that way. Well that's what he had thought, until now; with her tongue currently caressing the roof of his mouth he was beginning to think otherwise.

She tasted like a mix of lime and strawberry, which he guessed must have been her lip gloss. As the kiss deepened he let go of her hands and moved his to her waist, she appreciated being free and took the opportunity to rake her hands through his hair, grabbing a fist full as she sucked on his bottom lip. The gesture made him moan into her mouth which in turn made her lift one of her legs, wrapping it round the back of his legs, pulling him flush against her.

He knew he should stop, that she'd been drinking and wouldn't touch him in the sober light of day but his conscience was being overruled by the devil on his shoulder, which was telling him he'd been drinking too, that maybe she was taking advantage of him. When he ran out of air he moved his lips from hers and slowly starting placing soft kisses in a trail down the side of her face until he reached her neck, she thrust her head back giving him better access and moaned his name, "Dan". Any doubt he had about it being wrong vanished immediately; he placed a few sloppy kisses on her neck before he returned his mouth to hers, moving one of his hands from her waist to up under her shirt, drawing invisible patterns onto her stomach, moving higher and higher until he felt the fabric of her bra. He moved his hand round to her back and felt her slightly arch her back off the bed in order for his fingers to find his target. As he battled with her clasp a loud spluttering sound made him stop. Dan withdrew his hand like he'd been burnt and turned to the source of the disruption just in time to see his room-mate roll over and throw up all over the floor, up until that moment he'd been completely oblivious to the sleeping drunk.

He quickly sat up as Blair released her legs hold and made his way over to Matt, making sure he was fully on his side and putting the trash can directly under his face. He turned to face Blair with an apologetic look but he noticed she was avoiding his gaze, laying still, staring at the ceiling. He didn't know what to say so in Humphrey style he said the first thing that came to his mind, "Umm, way to ruin the moment huh." She still didn't move, so he walked to the side of the bed and lightly touched her arm before saying, "Blair?" At the sound of her name she seemed to snap out of her daze, she looked at him, got up off the bed, said she had to go and ran out of his room all in the space of about five seconds. He wanted to go after her and told himself he hadn't because he had to clean up Matt's mess and make sure he didn't choke, not because the look of disgust she had given him before she ran out.

Later that night he berated himself for being so stupid, she would never be interested him him. She was the Queen of the upper east side, they didn't go for guys who lived in Brooklyn and spent their time sitting up on sick watch and now their friendship was probably ruined.

The next morning he caught the subway to Brooklyn, he needed quiet and knew it would be empty and free from any chance of bumping into her. He spent the weekend alone, finishing up his assignments and eating waffles, in Brooklyn where he belonged. He would deal with the repercussions when he saw her next.

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She had kissed him. He had kissed her back. They had kissed.

She didn't know what was worse, that she'd started it, that she liked it or that she had wished his stupid puker friend hadn't been there. Maybe the latter because that meant she had wanted to have sex with Dan Humphrey, aka Cabbage patch, aka her best friends ex.

When she had kissed him the butterflies had just grown worse, until they had caught alight and there was a fire in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't get enough of him, wrapping her leg around his to pull him closer to her and willing him to touch her more, that was until she'd been rapidly turned off by the sound of a barbarian being sick everywhere, then she was just plain shocked. She heard him say something but she couldn't divert her eyes from the dirty patch on the ceiling, he had actually left her speechless. Then he was touching her again, saying her name and she just had to get out of there. She looked at him and couldn't hide her expression, she had kissed her best friends ex, someone she wasn't even suppose to like and she felt guilty and sick at the same time.

The next day she stayed in finishing up any soon due work, some of the girls from the party had dropped by giving her all the gossip and asking where she'd gone, she told them she was tired and simply had gone to bed, alone. Katie had given her the whatever you say look but Blair had held her ground stating that one night stands were cheap. She had checked her phone more times than she wanted to admit, part of her was glad he hadn't sent her a text or knocked on the door, the other part wanted to know why. He should feel lucky to have kissed her, he had nothing to be ashamed about.

She didn't see him on Sunday, even though she had gone to their local coffee shop, visited the book store and spent the rest of the time reading in the cafeteria, he was avoiding her. The thought that he didn't want to see her bothered Blair and she had to admit to herself, she missed him. It hadn't even been two days and she missed him. On Monday after not seeing him once, she decided she was pissed and she wanted him to know, she marched up the stairs to his room and banged his door twice with her fist. He opened after a beat and seemed shocked to see her, raising his eyebrow and saying her name in that way that made it sound like it had two syllables, "B...lair" She scoffed pushing him back into the room and shutting the door before resting her back against it. She tried to stare him down so he'd ask her what she was doing there but he just stared back, clueless. After a whole minute of silence she had had enough, "I came here to shout at you, you kiss me then you hide like a coward." She shouted, waving her hands in the air before pointing her finger at his face.

He seemed to be a mixture of amused and pissed, she noticed him bite back a smile then clench his jaw before saying, "Err, really Blair, cos I seem to remember you kissing me then running outta here once you realised what you'd done. If your here because you think I may have infected you with something don't worry I got rid of my Mono last week. Now as much as I appreciate being shouted at, I've got stuff to do so...."

She let out a small scream as he trailed off, stamping her foot and saying, "Argggh, I hate you, I hate you for making me feel like this, it won't go away, I can't make it go away." That seemed to get his attention. His neck snapped up and his eyes widened before softening, staring into hers. He hadn't seen her look so vulnerable since their conversation about their absent mothers, he took two steps till he was standing right in front of her, she had meanwhile found a stain on the floor that was of particular interest, toeing it with her pump. She felt him palm her cheek before taking her chin and tilting her face up. She wanted to snap WHAT at him but he was looking at her again, that same look he had right before she kissed him, this time however he moved to kiss her. As his lips slowly neared hers he looked to her for reassurance or to give her the opportunity to tell him to stop, she couldn't though, even if she wanted to, which she didn't. After what felt like forever he finally kissed her, it was softer than last time, slower. He moved both his hands to cup her face and she put her hands round his torso grabbing at his shirt. It didn't last as long as she wanted and as he pulled away a sigh left her lips before she felt him place his forehead against hers. He breathed deeply, his hands still holding her face and said "I like you Blair and the way you make me feel and I don't want it to go away." then he stepped back, dropped his hands and gave her a smile before adding, "But I understand if you don't feel the same, I don't want to lose your friendship Blair... " She stopped him from going on, interrupting his speech by simply saying "I don't want it to go away either."

She hadn't even thought about saying it, it had just popped out on impulse. When he had told her he liked her she had felt her heart swell in her chest but then he had started his rambling, which she was sure would end about how they should just stay friends and her stomach had dropped. She knew she wanted him, all of him, not just his friendship, so she had finally been honest with herself and him.

Her statement had made his face light up, he looked like a child on Christmas. She gave an uncertain smile at his reaction so he held out his hand and said "We'll figure this out." Looking at him standing there, hand out stretched and that adorkable, genuine smile of his she believed him and felt that maybe he was right. She took his hand and he pulled her towards him into his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head before saying "We just need to figure out what _This_ is."

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**Not totally happy with this Chapter, i wanna write them together rather than getting together. Reviews make me :)**


	5. First Date

**Chapter 5**

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He couldn't believe it, she actually liked him back and watching her admit that in her own Blair way had made him break and kiss her again, despite the fact that she had just barged in his room and shouted at him. He told her they'd figure it out because truth be told he was just as confused as her about their latest development. He didn't really know where to start though and he was suppose to be meeting Vanessa for dinner, so he simply asked her out on a date. It wasn't till he was laying in bed later that night did the severity of the situation set in, he was taking Blair on a date, he remembered his nervousness at taking Serena out for their first date and wondered why he'd be so scared, that was nothing compared to Blair Waldorf. Where the hell was he gonna take her?

The next day he spent most of his classes thinking up date ideas, would she want romantic or simple, grand gestures or paper napkins. He decided their budding relationship was pushing both their boundaries so why break the tradition, she was wearing jeans now so surely she could cope with something out of her comfort zone, he quickly made a note of somewhere to go and resided to the fact she'd either love it or hate it and he could live with that. Later in class when he set her coffee down on her desk and she turned to him with a closed dimpled smile he began to have doubts, here was a girl that was use to ballet and balls, a girl that deserved horse drawn carriages, not lonely boys from Brooklyn, any doubts were lost however when she leaned over to him placing a kiss on his cheek and telling him thanks before lifting the coffee to her lips.

They ditched their usual study session and he left her at her door, telling her to be ready by 7pm before leaning down to place a quick kiss on her lips. She had other ideas though as she put her hands on either side of his face, keeping him close and deepening the kiss so he had to place his arm on the door frame to keep himself steady, when they parted he must have had a look of surprise plastered across his face because she shrugged and told him she'd wanted to do that all through class, he laughed and responded my kissing her forehead and telling her to dress casual, as he walked away he was thankful that at least he wouldn't have to worry about first date kissing.

He knocked on her door five minutes early and was surprised when she opened the door in jeans, a blouse and D&G ballerina pumps all ready to go, maybe she was just as eager to see him as he was to see her. He commented on how beautiful she looked, something he thought was obvious by the stupid goofy grin he couldn't hide from his face, before helping her with her coat and taking her hand, leading her outside.

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When he hails a cab, she notices him stealing a glance at her direction, probably to see her expression of disgust at public transport, he'll be disappointed however because Blair wouldn't care if they had to hop to their destination, she just wants to be taken on a date by Dan Humphrey, with him looking at her that way all night. They get out at what she notices is Battery park, where he resumes holding her hand, taking a walk through some of the gardens and indulging in small talk before they reach a small Italian facing out on the Harbour. She thinks she should probably feel out of her depth, but she hasn't once had the urge to wash her hands and the view really has taken her breath away. He orders for them and when a huge square pizza comes out she smiles at his thought that they would share, a smile that becomes wider then he dabs the pizza with a napkin and pulls her a piece, saying "I know your use to three course meals and 5 star dining but sometimes you can't beat a slice of the best pizza in New York." She never really saw the appeal of pizza, all carbs and cheese but she finds herself agreeing with him after her first bite and not worrying once about her waistline. When he positions his feet so their intertwined with hers she thinks that she never wants to leave, that she wants to eat pizza here every night, as long as he's here too.

They finish up and he leads her to the harbour where she seems mesmerized by the glittering lights on the water. As he waits by the railings she leans back into his chest and appreciates the warmth when he wraps his arms around her. She wonders what they're waiting for until a ferry docks and he nudges her in it's direction. The ferry begins its moonlit trip around Lady Liberty and Blair lets her mind wander to past dates, Nate would always take her to the same restaurant, something she felt had been there's and a tradition when really it was just because he lacked imagination. Chuck too had been a restaurant kinda guy, always wanting to eat quick and head home for dessert, never really taking time to enjoy her company. She had never complained about either, always thinking it was what she wanted, but here on a rickety island ferry, watching the moon cast it's glow on the water and appreciating the City's skyline she realised maybe like them she had never known what she wanted and that maybe Dan knew more than them all. She sees he's staring and he laughs when she snaps out of her daze and notices, "Day dreaming?" he asks before rubbing her knee, she doesn't know if it's a response to his question or his hands rotations but only a "Hmm" manages to leave her lips before she leans forward capturing his lips with hers. He leaves her later at her door, his lips swollen after the good half hour she's put in attacking his lips, she can't help but mirror his contagious smile and groans when he makes to leave, pulling him back for one last kiss. As she gets ready for bed she notices the ferry ticket stub in her Jean pockets and smiles to herself, she crosses the room to wedge it in the frame of her photo on her desk and makes a note to phone her father and tell him all about her perfect first date.

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The next day in class he wonders if people can tell about them, if it's obvious in the way he's leaning closer to her desk or in the way she keeps slapping his thigh when he laughs at the things she says. He knows that neither want to divulge to anyone what is happening between them just yet so leaves her after with a wink, later writing her a text apologising, he never winks and he knows he probably looked creepy. When she meets him for lunch at noon she greets him with a wink and a laugh and he feels a blush creep onto his cheeks before he rubs the back of his neck and shakes his head. He knows she enjoys it when he's embarrassed and he enjoys it when she's happy, so he makes a mental note to wink more often. He let her tease him over lunch but as they make to leave the cafe and go to their next classes decided to change the subject saying, "So er, my Dad's making dinner at the loft tonight, his way of checking in, but um, your welcome to come, if you wanted to?" She shook her head before saying, "Thanks for the offer but as tempting as home cooking sounds, I still haven't finished the essay due in." Upon noticing his raised eyebrow she added "I've had stuff on my mind." He smiled and kissed her temple before saying "Ok, well I can stop by when I'm back, see if you need any help or something." She nodded and gave him a yes before turning and opening the door, just as she was about to leave she turned back and said "Oh and Humphrey, don't bother turning up without coffee." He laughed before giving her his yes ma'am mock salute.

Dinner had proved difficult, as nice as it was to catch up with his dad and Jenny, he had really just wanted to get back to campus, Jenny's curious stares whenever he had brought up Blair were beginning to bother him as well. It was when they were washing the dishes she began to pry, asking since when did he and Blair hang out. He simply replied since they had the same class and since they'd learned they actually had stuff in common, to which she scoffed and said, "Since when, unless you've changed into some cold, heartless bitch I'd say you have nothing in common Dan." He tried not to let it bother him but hearing his sister slag Blair off made him angry, he finished drying then threw down the towel onto the side and faced his sister, "She was never heartless Jenny, she just cared too much about what people at that school thought, she's different now, she's changed." He said trying to keep his voice calm. He saw Jenny's eyebrows raise, then a look of realization crossed her face and she started laughing before saying, "Oh my god Dan, you like her." He wanted to laugh back, tell her he didn't and that she was crazy but he never lied to Jenny, so he merely shrugged and put his elbows on the counter and his head in his hands. He heard Jenny finish up, wiping her hands on the towel and wiping the counter before she patted him on the back and said, "Gotta say I didn't see this coming, but if you like her then she must have changed. I don't want to be you though when Chuck and Serena find out." He let out a loud groan into his hands, Serena, he had completely forgotten what would happen if she found out.

An hour later he returned to campus even more unsure of how to handle the situation, he liked her, a lot and she liked him back but Serena was her best friend and not to long ago he had been hopelessly in love with her, neither one of them would want to hurt her.

He made sure to get two coffees before knocking on her door, something she seemed to be grateful of when she opened the door and snatched one from his hand, saying "Thank god, I just spent three hours finishing up without moving from the computer screen, I'm in dire need of a caffeine fix." She asked him about dinner and how Jenny was doing, she even sounded genuine, although he knew she must have had some resentment towards the girl who took her crown. She must have sensed something was up when he remained motionless in the doorway, "Earth to Humphrey, you zoning out on me?" He had wanted to start a conversation about Serena, but seeing her stood in her NYU tee and Pyjama shorts, one hand on her hip and the other moving so she could sip her coffee he didn't want to disrupt the image and create any tension. "Huh, oh no, I'm just tired, had Jenny chewing my ear off about Constance; so your finished?" he said as he walked in and shut the door. "Yeah, if I never have to read Dickinson or Browning again it'll be to soon." She said as she sat down on her bed, loading a disc into her DVD player. He shook his head and exclaimed, "Are you serious? Two of the best poets to have ever lived and they're female too, I thought you'd feel empowered or something else girly like that, they're an inspiration." She rolled her eyes at him adding "I forgot you're quite the writer..... and reader apparently. You want to venture into my territory and watch Breakfast at Tiffany's with me?" He smiled and sat down next to her saying, "Your territory? Truman Capote happened to be a great novelist you know." She tapped him on the forehead with the remote and told him to Shhh.

As she became distracted by the film starting he gave her room a look over. It was about the same size as his except she had it all to herself and a double bed pushed against the back wall instead of a single. She had a desk with nothing on it except her laptop, a couple of books and a photo of Blair with her and dad, he noticed the ferry stub stuck in the frame and felt his heart swell. Apart from her wardrobe, night stand and a few posters, mostly Audrey Hepburn inspired, the room was quite bare and incredibly neat. She must have thought he was living in filth with Matt and Oh god he had kicked dirty panties at her.

He wasn't sure how to approach movie watching with Blair, did she like silence, hand holding, would she move away if he put his arm round her; so he simply just moved back and sat against her headboard, slouching slightly and kicking off his shoes. She noticed him move and did the same, slouching lower so she could rest against his side and put her head on his chest. Her movement made his heart start thumping wildly in his chest and he was sure she must have been able to hear it, although she didn't move for the duration of the movie. When it had finished she sat up startling him slightly and turned off the TV, before turning to him yawning. He took that as his cue to leave but as he went to move she crawled towards him, pushing him back so she could straddle him. He laughed nervously, playing with a loose thread on her shorts, unsure what to say before stuttering on a "Hi." She laughed and simply said "Stay." Apparently her version of figuring this out meant diving in head first. He could feel the temperature rise about fifty degrees and upon seeing his reaction she laughed again and told him that she just wanted to sleep, placing a quick kiss on his lips and climbing off him. She walked round to the side of bed pulling back the covers and motioned for him to get off the bed, he did as he was told standing up and kicking off his jeans before joining her in the bed. She turned to her night stand turning off the lamp and stayed in that position, facing the bedroom wall. Feeling a little embarrassed that it was mostly Blair who seemed to take the initiative in showing affection, he shuffled over pulling her into him so her back was flush against his chest, before putting his arm around her, taking her hand in his and laying a chaste kiss on the back of her neck where he left his head, shutting his eyes.

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**  
So this is a little longer than previous chapters but i had a burst of inspiration and wanted to get it all down. Just so there's no confusion it goes from more Dan's perspective to Blair's then back to Dan's.  
**


	6. Cabbage Patch

Chapter 6

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The next few weeks were spent trying to come to terms with what was happening. He would normally stay over just to sleep, which was a welcome escape from sleeping on the common room couch, then they'd go to their respective classes, sometimes meeting for lunch and always meeting back at her room at night where they'd go through notes or watch movies before going to sleep. Vanessa had asked him why he was suddenly busy all the time but he blew her off with lies about work and the library, he made sure to meet her for lunch more in an effort to keep her off his trail and was thrilled when she started seeing Nate again as it meant she grew too busy to care. He had wanted to tell her what was going on, but he didn't know himself and he and Blair had agreed not to say anything.

In public they acted as friends, which still included her snide comments and his trademark sarcasm, when they were alone however they were experimenting with their new attraction. The first morning he woke up in her bed, he found himself weighted down by her sprawled across his chest and her legs tangled up in his. He had tried to move so she didn't wake and notice his morning arousal but as he went to sit up she had giggled and tightened her legs hold on his, she was awake and she was enjoying his embarrassment. He decided to take the upper hand, rolling so he was hovering above her and had started to place butterfly kisses across her neck, trailing up to her mouth; just as he was about to kiss her he pulled away abruptly, said he had to go and jumped out of the bed before putting his jeans back on. She had groaned putting a pillow over her face before throwing it at his back as he walked out.

At night they would usually just go straight to sleep but the morning seemed to be the time where they'd push each others buttons and test each others boundaries, so far nothing had happened apart from the odd grope. He noticed she began wearing less to bed, what had been a t-shirt and shorts was now just her underwear and on his fourth night stay when she had moaned about his shirt being scratchy he had taken the hint and now only wore his Calvin Klein's. He knew her favourite films and songs, she knew his favourite writers and bands. He knew her most sensitive spot was between her shoulder and neck and that all he had to do was kiss it to get her to shut up, she knew he loved her to play with the hair at the nape of his neck and if she did this he was putty in her hands. He knew she always moaned her feet were too hot and that's why she pressed them against his, because his were colder. She knew that he liked the dip in her back, where he'd always touch or rub discreetly when they were in public and that he loved her dimples, the place where he'd drop a kiss on her cheek. He knew that she liked his hands, which she would grab rubbing her thumb over his when nobody was watching and that she loved his eyes because of the way they looked at her, incapable of lying. He realised that _This _had suddenly become very real.

She quickly became afraid of what was happening, one night when he had gone to Brooklyn and stayed the night, she had barely slept. She tried telling herself it was due to a caffeine overload but she knew the truth was that she had grown use to listening to his heartbeat and the weight of his arm around her and that without it she just couldn't sleep. Her feet were also way too hot when he wasn't there. She had thought about putting some distance between them and had even tried to break contact for a while, jokingly telling him that they had seen way too much of each other and she was growing sick of him; she proposed that they should see how long they could stay away from each other. She had cracked first after less than 24hrs, texting him to ask why he hadn't text first. He didn't reply by text but by knocking on her door two minutes later and telling her he had just been waiting for her signal before grabbing her face in his hands and placing small kisses over her face and telling her he had missed her.

She didn't know how he could ever really fit into her life and the thought of telling everyone made her want to hide, but right now she felt like she couldn't be without him. He hadn't rushed her, neither in the emotional or physical side of their relationship, she thought that he would have wanted to tell people by now but he seemed to be enjoying the fact that nobody knew. In fact, sometimes when she caught girls on campus ogling him, she was the one that wanted it out in the open, so they would know he was hers. The last time Serena had phoned she had nearly told her the truth, she was the happiest she'd been in a long time and wanted to share that with her best friend, instead she felt like it was some dirty little secret. The most surprising thing was Blair had begun to form a bond with Jenny, after she found out Jenny knew she had thrown a tantrum for about 5mins whilst Dan had tried to calm her down, he had said that it was a good thing, that they could have a safe space at the loft without Jenny blabbing to anybody. After that she had been grateful for someone else to talk to and the two had started to get along, Jenny didn't judge her and encouraged her feelings for Dan, it was also good to catch up on the Constance gossip and give her opinion of how to control the new mean girls.

She didn't know what she had expected to happen between them but falling for him was not suppose to be an option and now she couldn't stop. One night he had referred to her as his girlfriend when he was rambling about how he wanted to take her out more and not be on guard about who could see, upon realising what he'd said he had winced waiting for her reaction, half expecting her to shout at him, she instead had just smiled and told him she liked the sound of that, being his girlfriend. Two days later he had entered her room with a wrapped box in his hands telling her he had brought her a present because that's what boyfriends do. She unwrapped it to find a brown eyed, brown haired, female Cabbage Patch doll with the actual given name of Holly. She managed to hold back her tears until he pulled out a little black dress and said, "I managed to find a Holly doll after looking in about fifty stores but couldn't get an outfit anywhere, so.., I asked Jenny and she managed to make her this, I thought it was only fair Cedric had a girlfriend too and I know he has a thing for brunettes; watch her though she's a bit feisty after being used as Jenny's pin cushion." It was then she knew she wasn't just falling for him, she loved him.


End file.
